ladygagapediafandomcom-20200214-history
The Fame (album)
The Fame is the debut album by Lady GaGa. The album was first released in Canada on August 19, 2008 by Interscope Records. The main theme of the songs is about how anyone can feel famous like a celebrity. On December 2, 2009, The Fame was nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won Best Dance Recording for Poker Face. The album was nominated for Album of the Year, and won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards. On February 26, 2010, The Fame went Diamond (signifying over 25 million albums sold) selling around 25 million copies world wide. On February 16, 2010, it won Best International Album at the Brit Awards. On July 7th, 2010, The Fame became the best selling album/most download/most platinum album in the music history. Writing and Development The writing of the album took around two years and a half and started in 2006. Some of the songs from the album come from her work with various producers (RedOne, Rob Fusari, KNS Productions) in 2006-2007 and the other half with her work after being signed to Interscope Records (Martin Kierszenbaum, RedOne). The songs are mostly inspired by Gaga's love of fame in general, and deals with the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, visualized by her. Musically, the album drew inspiration from '80s electropop and synthpop while incorporating dance music and clear hooks. In regards to the title and concept of the album, Lady Gaga explained, "The Fame is about how anyone can feel famous. Pop culture is art. It doesn't make you cool to hate pop culture, so I embraced it and you hear it all over The Fame. But, it's a sharable fame. I want to invite you all to the party. I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle." Composition Musically, the album drew influences from late 1970s glam rock musicians such as David Bowie and Queen. Gaga incorporated their glam-rock sound while devising catchy pop melodies and hooks to create what she has dubbed, "theatrical pop". Songs like "Poker Face", "Just Dance" and "LoveGame" are uptempo dance songs, with "Poker Face" carrying a dark sound with clear vocals on the chorus and a pop hook. "Just Dance" is synth-based while "LoveGame" has a more dance-oriented beat, and "Money Honey" has a moderate techno groove. All of them combined synths of clipped marching beats, sawing electronics and contained mild R&B-infused beats. "Paparazzi" carried a sultry beat while "Summerboy" had influences of the music of Blondie". "Eh, Eh" is credited as a ballad compared to the rest of the dance-fueled tracks from The Fame. The song has an eighties synth pop feeling in it while incorporating the "Eh, Eh" hook from Rihanna's single "Umbrella" (2007). Lyrically, the songs on The Fame talk about being famous and achieving popularity. "Poker Face" is about sexual innuendo and teasing.Gaga explained in an interview with the Daily Star that the lyrics carry a bit of an undertone of confusion about love and sex. "Just Dance" talks about being intoxicated in a party, with lyrics like "What's going on on the floor? / I love this record, baby but I can't see straight anymore". "LoveGame" portrays a message about love, fame and sexuality which is akin to the central theme of album."Paparazzi" portrays a stalker who is following somebody being his or her biggest fan. The lyrics also portray the desire of capturing the attention of the camera as well as achieving fame. In an interview with MTV UK Lady Gaga explained about The Fame:In an interview with MTV Gaga explained about The Fame: Critical reception The album received mostly positive reviews, with critics commending Gaga's ability to discover a melodious hook and comparing her vocal abilities to those of Gwen Stefani. The album went to number-one in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland. In the United States the album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. Worldwide, the album has sold over eight million copies. It earned a collective score of 71 out of 100 from Metacritic. Matthew Chisling from Allmusic stated, "Fueled by heavy dance tracks and popping electronic beats, The Fame is a well-crafted sampling of feisty anti-pop in high quality. Lady Gaga pulls out all the stops on The Fame, injecting hard-hitting synthesizers and crashing slicks and grooves. From its opening track until it closes, The Fame fails to come up short on funky sounds to amuse fans of this dance genre." Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly gave The Fame a B−, saying that "The Fame is remarkably (and exhaustingly) pure in its vision of a world in which nothing trumps being beautiful, dirty, and rich. In this economy, though, her high-times escapism has its charms". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian complimented Gaga for being good at melodies. According to him "The Fame arrives packing an immensely addictive melody or an inescapable hook, virtually everything sounds like another hit single. The Fame certainly sounds like it could be big." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters criticised songs like "Eh, Eh", "Paper Gangsta" and "Brown Eyes" while complimenting the rest, calling it a solid dance album. Joey Guerra from the Houston Chronicle commented that although the songs present in the album are not innovative, Gaga deserved credit for bringing real dance music to the mass. Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine compared Gaga's vocals with that of Gwen Stefani. Koski said that the album is "fueled by a glitter-laced, dance-inciting energy that bodes well for extended club play, which is really the whole point." Cinquemani said that "Gaga's lyrics alternate between cheap and nonsensical drivel , and her vocal performances are uneven at best the songs that work, include "Poker Face", "Starstruck", "Paper Gangsta" and "Summerboy"— rest almost solely on their snappy production and sing-along hooks." Freedom du Lac from The Washington Post criticised the album for lacking originality. Sarah Rodman from The Boston Globe wrote that alt first blush, Lady GaGa's frothy disco confections could easily be mistaken for the mindless booty bait dangled by, say, the Pussycat Dolls. But listen a little closer to the sly, snarky lyrics and glam grooves on this feisty debut and you'll hear that this former downtown New York spice girl has at least a few things on her dirty mind." Critic Robert Christgau said that the album was "shallowness at its most principled." Daniel Brockman from The Phoenix, noted that in the album "Gaga ups the ante in terms of catchy songwriting and sheer high-in-the-club-banging-to-the-beat abandon." The Fame garnered five Grammy nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards on December 2, 2009. The album itself was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Electronic/Dance Album. Track listing The track listing of "The Fame" was intended to have a different song for the eighth track on each different localized version. "Money Honey" appeared on the Canadian version, "Starstruck" appeared on the US version, and the European release included "Vanity". However, she later released a revised edition with a modified track listing in the US on October 28, 2008 and in some countries where the album had not yet been released. A third version was released in Ireland and the UK on January 9 and 12, 2009, with a few further modifications to the track listing. As an exclusive to the online music store Rhapsody, "Vanity" was included on the third edition as an exclusive download single. Charts, certifications and procession 'Weekly charts' 'Year-end charts' 'Certifications'